Celebrate Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai on His birthday

Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (born 16 February 1960) is a Nigerian politician who is the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State and former Director General of The Bureau of Public Enterprises, the head privatisation agency in Nigeria and also the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from 16 July 2003 to 29 May 2007.

 He is a member of All Progressives Congress (APC) and elected as the Executive Governor of Kaduna State during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. His spell with the government began under the transition government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, where he served as an adviser in the Transition government. He was reportedly in self-exile during the tenure of President Umaru Yar'Adua. In November 2009, Nasir EL-Rufai stated plans to come back home to Nigeria despite the high level of risk he will be under.

Education

EL-Rufai was born in Daudawa of Faskari Local Government Area in Katsina State. Despite his northern upbringing, Nasir El-Rufai has always said he is "Nigerian" first before being "Hausa". His father who lived on a pension of three pounds a month died while the young Nasir was 8. He was sponsored throughout his schooling days by an uncle in Kaduna, and as a result grew up in the influential Northern state.

 He went to secondary school in the prestigious Barewa College, where he graduated at the top of the class, winning the coveted "Barewa Old Boys' Association Academic Achievement" Trophy in 1976. Incidentally, in Barewa College Zaria, the former President Umaru Yar'Adua was the House Captain of Mallam Smith House which was Nasir's dormitory as a junior. 

He went off to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning a Bachelor in Quantity Surveying degree with First Class Honors. He also attended post-graduate programs at Harvard Business School and Georgetown University. 

Since leaving public service, Nasir has completed an LL.B degree from the University of London, graduating in August 2008 with Second Class Honors, Upper Division, and a master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in June 2009. He also received the Kennedy School Certificate in Public Policy and Management having spent 11 months as an Edward A. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management from July 2008 to June 2009.